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Today we keep going the starter trio of Kanto with Charizard, the most overrated Pokémon in the galaxy! In real life, I'm always so shocked to see people getting all worked up for a charizard card.. Honestly, he's super cool, but I had an overdose of him from seeing him everywhere haha 😅

As with Venusaur, the Japanese inspirations are lighter here, because Charizard is not directly inspired by a yōkai or other element of japanese folklore. However, I decided to follow the inspiration of imori 守宮 yōkai, which are spirits of Japanese warriors reincarnated as lizards/geckos soldiers. They are said to roam the ruins of castles. This legend comes from the former province of Echizen, the current prefecture of Fukui (north of Kyoto).

In short, I found it interesting to make the link between the imori and the line of Charizard as reptile fire soldiers, with samurai armor and all! For Charizard's armor, I was heavily inspired by one of his skins in Pokémon Unite. The emblem shown in several places on the illustration represents the Tokugawa clan, and makes a connection with the illustration of Kingambit!

Description
Today we keep going the starter trio of Kanto with Charizard, the most overrated Pokémon in the galaxy! In real life, I'm always so shocked to see people getting all worked up for a charizard card.. Honestly, he's super cool, but I had an overdose of him from seeing him everywhere haha 😅

As with Venusaur, the Japanese inspirations are lighter here, because Charizard is not directly inspired by a yōkai or other element of japanese folklore. However, I decided to follow the inspiration of imori 守宮 yōkai, which are spirits of Japanese warriors reincarnated as lizards/geckos soldiers. They are said to roam the ruins of castles. This legend comes from the former province of Echizen, the current prefecture of Fukui (north of Kyoto).

In short, I found it interesting to make the link between the imori and the line of Charizard as reptile fire soldiers, with samurai armor and all! For Charizard's armor, I was heavily inspired by one of his skins in Pokémon Unite. The emblem shown in several places on the illustration represents the Tokugawa clan, and makes a connection with the illustration of Kingambit!